The Easy, the Good, the Bad, and the Lonely
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Prue knows that there has to be a Mister Right for her, but sometimes waiting can be too lonely a game.  Prequel to the author's A Blessing or a Curse? and all the stories following that one.  Het.


Title: "The Easy, the Good, the Bad, and the Lonely"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: PG-13 for drug use and talk of sexual activities  
Summary: Prue knows that there has to be a Mister Right for her, but sometimes waiting can be too lonely a game.  
Warnings: Het  
Word Count: 1,132  
Date Written: 1 August, 2010  
Challenge: Cathie's Ficcers Unite Charmed challenge for 7-29-10 to write a story where Prue is needing a good man  
Timeline: This fic is prequel to the author's "A Blessing or Curse?" and the other Brendan/Prue stories that followed. The official timeline for the B/P Charmed universe is: "A Blessing or a Curse?", "The Day After", "Howling From A Distance", "Unsaveable", "Howling Hopes For The Future", and "Dream Lover".  
Disclaimer: Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell, Leo Wyatt, Cole Turner, Andy Trudeau, P3, the Power of Three, and Charmed are & TM Spelling Entertainment and any other respective owners, none of which are the author, and are used without permission. Brendan Richards is & TM the author, Pirate Turner, and may not be used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Prue gazed forlornly into her drink as she sat alone in her family's booth at the nightclub they owned, appropriately called P3 for their secret. She barely glanced up as her sisters ran to her. She didn't even bother to protest as Piper took her long neck bottle out of her hand and put it down on the table in front of her. Phoebe grasped her emptied hands and tugged on them. "Come on, Prue!" she exclaimed. "Come dance with us!"

"You both have men waiting for you to dance with them," Prue gently reminded her sisters, still barely looking at them.

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed happily, "but you do too!"

Prue finally looked up, her eyebrows rising in silent questioning.

"He asked about you," Piper explained, gesturing with her eyes to where a man stood alone at the bar. "We told him that you're our sister and that we'd ask you if you'd like to meet him."

Prue shook her head. "Not tonight."

"Oh come on, Prue!" Phoebe cried, pulling harder on her hands. "Don't be a spoil sport! Come play!"

Prue sighed. "Phoebe, it's not that simple."

"Sure it is," the youngest Halliwell immediately answered with a grin. "You play, we play, and we all have fun!"

Prue quirked an eyebrow. "Phebs," she demanded in concern, "have you been hitting the rocks again?"

"Nope," Phoebe answered with a huge grin, "just the pebbles! Come on, Prue! Have some more drink!" She picked up her sister's beer bottle and thrust it at her. "Getting easy's easy to do when you're on the easy!" she sang and then giggled hysterically at her own joke.

"Phoebe . . . " Prue began but stopped when she saw Cole approaching. He walked up behind Phoebe, and she weaved as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"I think it's perhaps best you take her home and put her to bed, Cole," Piper gently recommended.

He smiled as he met her eyes. "That's exactly what I was planning to do, ma'am." He swept Phoebe away, leaving Piper blushing.

Piper shook off the strange feeling and sank down onto the couch next to Prue. "It's not all Andy, is it?" she asked knowingly, watching her sister.

"No," Prue admitted, hesitantly taking another sip of her beer. She made a face. "That stuff is pretty rotten."

"We do serve mixed drinks, Prue."

"I know, but they don't work so well."

Piper smiled gently, her brown eyes misting. "I know." She hugged her sister and cuddled in beside her. Holding to her arm and gazing up into her face, she asked, "So you wanna talk about it?"

Prue shook her head. "Not really."

"There's a man out there for you, Prue," Piper told her, her own eyes trailing Leo as he made the rounds of checking on their regular customers for her.

"Somewhere," Prue agreed mildly. "I just don't know where, Piper, and sometimes I wonder if he's still out there or maybe . . . Maybe he's married, or maybe he's gone . . . "

"He's out there," Piper persisted. "Look at Phoebe and me, Prue." She laughed bitterly. "How many Demons and Warlocks and other losers did we go through before we found our Mister Rights?"

Prue joined in Piper's laughter. "I don't know," she said, shaking her head and causing her elongated, ebony locks to shimmer around her bared, slender shoulders. "I lost count years ago."

"So did we," Piper agreed with a grin. "But we still found Leo and Cole, and we're finally happy. Your chance will come too."

"Will it?"

"Yes," Piper said, squeezing her sister both hard and reassuringly. "Prue, we've saved the world even more times than we've dated Demons! We deserve to be happy, and we'll get that happiness!"

Prue absently ran her fingers through her sister's long hair. "I wish I could be as sure of that, Piper," she told her.

"You'll meet the guy who will make you sure of it." Piper noticed the man at the bar beginning to leave. "So how about giving it another try tonight?"

Prue pursed her lips in thought, then shook her head. "No. Not tonight. I'm just not ready."

"But when you are . . . "

"I'll find him myself, thanks. No offense, sis, but I don't want anybody as good and perfect as an Angel or as bad a Demon."

"So what do you want?"

Prue sighed, her eyebrows rising slightly in thought. "I don't know."

"Maybe that's part of the problem," hinted Piper.

"Maybe," Prue admitted with another sigh. She looked to her high heel shoe dangling off of her foot. "But I'm not ready to try to figure it out tonight."

"When will you be?"

"I don't know, but I will be and I promise I'll let you know when that day comes."

"Good," Piper said. She hugged Prue again. "Because I don't want an old maid for a sister."

Prue wrinkled her nose. "Don't worry," she said, finally grinning. "I don't want to be an old maid either. I'll find a man by then, or have fun with all the wrong ones."

"Sure you don't want to have a little fun with a guy who might be wrong or might just be right tonight?"

"Absolutely." Prue nodded, affirming her answer. She returned Piper's squeeze as she noticed Leo making his way closer to their table and yet trying to appear still busy so that he would not be intruding on their time together. "Now it's time for you to go have fun with your Angel."

Piper intently studied her beloved sister's face. "Are you going to be okay alone?"

"Of course," Prue said brightly, flashing her a wide, reassuring smile. "I'm going to finish this horrible beer here, and then I'm going to go pick up some Chinese, ice cream, and a movie; go home; and spend some quality time on me."

Piper narrowed her eyes in a fashion that they'd picked up from their grandmother and, Prue knew although Piper did not remember, their mother. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" She hugged her again, then pushed her away. "Now go!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going!" Piper smiled. "I love you, Prue!"

"I love you too, Piper! Now go make me proud."

Piper smiled somewhat shyly but took Leo's hand when he asked her to the dance floor. Prue watched them dance while she finished her drink, then headed out. As she walked to her car, she heard a howl, and, though she shivered inside, she lifted her head in unwitting answer. She did not stop to consider the few reasons why a wolf might be howling in San Francisco on a busy weekend night. She only reflected, with a sad, reminiscent smile touching her supple lips, that the wolf, like herself, was looking for his mate. Prue went home alone that night, but soon she would discover that Piper's words were true and that she would find her Mister Right.

**The End**

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this story, or any of my other writings, I hope you'll consider joining my brand new fan fic land comm - /FanFicLand - where four teams compete with weekly drabble challenges and monthly longer fic challenges to see who can reach 5,000 points first!

Also, if you'd be interested in playing in such challenges as the one that inspired this delightful fic, check out our ProBoards site at , and for those of you who are Disney fans and would like to do more in that fandom, though not just fan fic, check out /Disney_Uberland. For the Disney land, please tell them that OrliDepp of Team Stitch sent you. 


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